Your Life
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in all your body's cells. Blood cholesterol is essential for good health, making hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest foods. Cholesterol comes from two sources. Your liver makes all the cholesterol you need. The remainder of the cholesterol in your body comes from foods from animals and animal sources, such as egg yolks, meat, and cheese.
Cholesterol travels through your blood silently. If you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can combine with other substances in the blood to form plaque. Plaque sticks to the walls of your arteries and forms also silently. This buildup of plaque is known as atherosclerosis. It can lead to coronary artery disease, where your coronary arteries become narrow or even blocked.
Cholesterol numbers show how much cholesterol is circulating in your blood—which helps you know your risk for heart disease. Your HDL ("good" cholesterol) is the one number you want to be high (ideally above 60). Your LDL ("bad" cholesterol) should be below 100. Your total should be below 200.
You can live for many years with high cholesterol and not even know it. That's why it's essential to get your cholesterol numbers checked regularly. If your cholesterol numbers are too high (hyperlipidemia), that's a red flag for you and your healthcare provider. High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, but catching it early allows you to make changes and get your cholesterol to a healthy level. Read on for more information.
Cholesterol Numbers and What They Mean
source: Cleveland Clinic
|
